Born in the high Alpine village of Wagrain, Austria, in 1924, Konrad
Juestel studied under the great
Austrian expressionist artist Oskar Kokoschka in the mid 1950s.
During this time, he subscribed to
Kokoschka's "School of Seeing" theory. This held that "visual
art is a language of images, visible or
tangible signs and a knowledge of images based on experience."
It also asserted that the artist's
vision becomes an experience shared by all humanity and
existence, and that the content of visual art,
in common with language should be expressed in recognizable
forms in order to make it
comprehensible. Subscribing to this theory of expressionism,
Juestel traveled extensively through
France, Italy and Switzerland, working primarily in
watercolor.
In 1959, Juestel immigrated to the United States working
initially in New York and Chicago. In
addition to his talents as a painter, he applied his creative
skills to a variety of areas including
designing stained glass windows, theater sets, furniture design
and mural work. Since the late 1970s, Juestel has worked as a painter and freelance designer. From 1986 to 1988, he attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago studying printmaking, particularly the etching, lithography, silkscreen and monoprinting processes. This was a welcome return to media explored many years before in Austria and one Juestel has continued to embrace. Currently Juestel has his own studio in Valparaiso, Indiana, which is self-designed, built and furnished. |
Konrad Juestel
338 E. Old Suman Road
Valparaiso, IN 46383
Tel: (219) 462-2348
Email: juestel@netnitco.net